In this FAQ series, we will try to answer questions that will hopefully help us become more biblically informed and better equipped to live out our faith in community. To submit and vote on questions you would like to see answered here by our pastors, click here. To see other FAQ Friday posts, click here.
Shannon Wham, a member of our Pelham Road Campus, answers this week’s question from Rob in Simpsonville.
"In light of Matthew 7:21-23, how can someone
know if he or she is truly saved?"
know if he or she is truly saved?"
First off, let me just encourage you in your faith. Unreasonable, continuous doubt about our salvation shows a sinful lack of faith, but a periodic deep spiritual inventory is extremely edifying. Also, don’t beat yourself up when doubt creeps in. All Christians have experienced those struggles, which are a product of our internal carnal versus spiritual war. Trust me, people claiming to have salvation all figured out usually don’t know as much as they think.
So to start, the pastors at Grace always stress keeping passages in context. It’s essential to avoid reading meaning into a verse it was never meant to convey. The passage you bring up is in the context of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The Lord has been instructing His disciples and a multitude of hangers-on about what it means to live a Christian life and now Jesus is wrapping up His lesson. In these verses, Jesus is actually not addressing His disciples, but the rest of the crowd, some of whom were believers and some not.
Around this time, “freelance exorcists” or “faith healers” traveled from town to town “casting out” demons or performing “miracles.” While the Bible has evidence that prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament possessed such powers as a proof of their office, the men Jesus targeted were charlatans playing on people’s fear and desperation to make a quick payday selling snake oil. They had no real spiritual power and were not believers. Jesus exposes them by pointing out how anyone can “call on” His name or do works “in His name” and still be completely and utterly lost in sin. If you read Acts 19:8-20, you will see some of these snake oil salesmen learn about “using the Lord’s name in vain.”
Assurance of salvation is a question Christians have wrestled with since the early church. Just as an example, the Puritans were a group constantly questioning their salvation. They believed it was IMPOSSIBLE to know if one was saved or not. The truth is MUCH more positive. You CAN know without doubt that you are in the palm of the Master’s hand on your way to Heaven when you die. This is called The Preservation of the Saints.
A complete explanation would take more space than I have, but essentially Jesus’ death secured salvation for every Christian. Believers from every time and place were saved and WILL be in Heaven. Jesus makes this clear when He says:
I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.
Gospel of John 6:38-39
Jesus promises His disciples -- and by extension us -- that God knows His own and will not allow them to be lost. Jesus loved us enough to die for us; the Father loved us enough to INSIST Jesus die for us. Neither is going to endure such agony – and the Passion WAS AGONY for the Father as well as the Son –to lose us after redeeming us. As God’s child, anything that would rip you from His hand must be more powerful than He and such a force doesn’t exist.
Knowing if God gave you to Jesus requires some introspection. First ask, “Do I believe Jesus really came to Earth, died on a Cross, and rose from the dead to save me?” Then ask, “Is any evidence pointing to the Holy Spirit working in my heart?” How has your life changed? That is the best evidence for any person’s salvation. If you think you are saved, but six months on you still think the same thoughts, have the same goals and dreams, and spend your time, treasure and talents the way you did before you “accepted Christ”, you were not converted; you had an emotional experience. Emotional experiences don’t change anything, but true conversion changes lives, without exception.
When your soul is assailed by doubt, don’t be discouraged. Rest in Christ’s finished work on the Cross. He rose again to ensure our salvation; He is not going to let you go.